AirBnB Owners - How's Business?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WFH is dying. No more “work from anywhere” especially with high inflation

And people can fly now, whose going to go to the Eastern shore unless it’s summer and you mean ocean front.

Actually, the empirical evidence is work from home/work from anywhere is entrenched and increasing. I realize you don’t like that fact, but spouting bullshit as fact doesn’t make it true.

[Anonymous]

All these things have been true all along about airbnbs. I think you’re seeing the impact of inflation. See the same drop off in homebuying.

[Anonymous]

I love AirBnb and have rarely had a bad experience. They allow you to stay in neighborhoods where there are no hotels, and the kitchen space is great for extenddd stays. But… the ridiculous “cleaning” fees that now get tacked on have soured me on AirBnB in the US. In Europe they are much more reasonable and often a better value than budget hotels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All these things have been true all along about airbnbs. I think you’re seeing the impact of inflation. See the same drop off in homebuying.

Not really. The high fees, demanding hosts and long checkout procedures seem to have gotten worse.

As for WFH, most people I know still have to show their face every week or two. Very few people I know have zero face time.

[Anonymous]

We will never use Airbnb or vrbo again. Too many bad experiences. Everything from scammers keeping security deposits for no reason to “security” cameras without warning to places that clearly have not been cleaned professionally for a very long time and are dirty in places that don’t show on photos. And of course there’s always a list of cleaning jobs for each place even though they also charge a cleaning fee.

No thanks. Never again.

[Anonymous]

Like the others, I'm finding the fees and the requirement to do half the cleaning before leaving annoying. With hotels, you don't have to deal with quirky owners and safety problems to the same degree. If we want a vacation rental, we'll look for a local agency from now on.

[Anonymous]

I still use AirBnB in places like Shenandoah Park...actually just did last week, in a place I stayed at before and discovered in 2020. But for the most part I am staying in hotels when I travel because of the flexibility and the lack of need to worry that the owner will screw you. Since I have started flying again local driving vacations have also been less appealing.

I stayed at the AirBnB in Shenandoah last week for a few reasons. I knew that the house and property were super relaxing and had amenities that I wanted--a screened in porch that is amazing, a hot tub, a private creek and a lot of land. There aren't really hotels to stay at in that area even if you wanted to, and the vibe at a hotel on 29 would be a lot different than staying in the woods. And finally, the place had a generous cancelation policy. I could get all my money back up to a week in advance. I saw there was an opening at the property in August and decided to book it on a whim, knowing I could cancel if I needed to. Without that assurance I probably would not have booked it this time.

I wouldn't stay in the mountains or beach in November. I might have during 2020 or 2021 when there were not other options, but now that I feel comfortable flying I would save beach/mountain trips for more appropriate weather.

[Anonymous]

We have a VRBO rental in Rehoboth and have noticed the same OP. We allow dogs so the last couple of years ( we bought in 2019) have been full in the off season too on the weekends. This year was great in the summer then Sept weekends and a couple Oct weekends but that’s it. Last year Nov weekends were filled too.

[Anonymous]

To the OP, what are your house rules and what are your check requirements (cleaning etc)? How do those compare with a hotel? Do you have someone local who can fix problems quickly?

[Anonymous]

I’ve been an Airbnb user for 6-7 years. I used to use it monthly, now I’ve used it twice in the past 12 months - once for a new place I’ll never stay at again, and once for my old faithful beach condo with a great owner. I’ve been full-time remote for 8 years, so the Covid/WFH situation did not influence me. Here’s my complaints and why I’m back in hotels:

1. Cleaning lists. I pay you a cleaning fee, don’t ask me to sweep, trash, laundry, etc.
2. Beds. These are not your personal homes/guest rooms anymore and it shows in the rickety bed frames and 8 inch foam mattress from Amazon.
3. Furniture in general. It’s not even ikea quality anymore, it’s the cheapest Walmart/Amazon college apt stuff now.
4. Check in/check out is inconvenient. Not that hotel hours are perfect, but at least I can drop my bag and get my bearings for the afternoon.
5. Stocking of the room/unit. Do I need coffee? Coffee filters? What size? Toilet paper? Hand soap? I don’t want to do it.

[Anonymous]

We own a house that we rent through AirBnB and through the resort where the house is located. There is a cleaning fee and the only thing we ask or the HOA asks is that the trash is put out and that the beds are stripped. Is that too much cleaning? We've only owned the place a year and we were booked all summer and we have a fair amount of reservations for the fall/winter. The place is only 3 hours away so we use it a few times during the winter and a bit in the summer too.

For us it depends on the type of trip we are taking. For our ski trips, we prefer a place with a kitchen. There is no need to go out for breakfast every day. We usually do ski in/out so we even go back for lunch some days. When we travel to a city we usually prefer a hotel. When we are doing a family vacation, we do an AirBnB for the convenience with the munchkin.

[Anonymous]

There's been a lot of people who had reservations in Florida and the Hurricane took out the homes. Those people didn't get their money back or had to fight to get it back. A lot of owners also have horrible cancellation rules/fees. Plus people have less money right now to spend. There's also probably a lack of trust from owners who do shady things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a little burnt out of AirBnBs to be honest. We have stayed in some lovely places, that weren’t cheap, only to arrive and have a binder waiting for us with dos and don’ts and a mile long checkout list that must be followed explicitly.

I appreciate information on the area or tips for things in the house. What gets me is tiny things that are required to be done. Or not having extra toilet paper, beyond a roll or paper towels. I feel like some owners were so booked they didn’t need to up their game to entice visitors.

This is us too. And the challenge with Cancelations make it less appealing.

[Anonymous]

OP here, I appreciate all the insight.

We have a $100 cleaning fee that includes sheets and towels, don't charge any other fees, don't have any creepy cameras that spy on our guests, have no requirements for check-out other than guests taking out the kitchen and bathroom trash, and include all linens plus the basics like coffee, soap, shampoo, etc.

But it sounds like overall a lot of people have been turned off of AirBnB generally, and that, plus the state of the economy, is probably hurting us. Oh well...time to lower prices and loosen up the cancellation policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been an Airbnb user for 6-7 years. I used to use it monthly, now I’ve used it twice in the past 12 months - once for a new place I’ll never stay at again, and once for my old faithful beach condo with a great owner. I’ve been full-time remote for 8 years, so the Covid/WFH situation did not influence me. Here’s my complaints and why I’m back in hotels:

1. Cleaning lists. I pay you a cleaning fee, don’t ask me to sweep, trash, laundry, etc.
2. Beds. These are not your personal homes/guest rooms anymore and it shows in the rickety bed frames and 8 inch foam mattress from Amazon.
3. Furniture in general. It’s not even ikea quality anymore, it’s the cheapest Walmart/Amazon college apt stuff now.
4. Check in/check out is inconvenient. Not that hotel hours are perfect, but at least I can drop my bag and get my bearings for the afternoon.
5. Stocking of the room/unit. Do I need coffee? Coffee filters? What size? Toilet paper? Hand soap? I don’t want to do it.

I agree with all of these.